New Jersey governor says he'll veto a gay marriage bill if it makes it to his desk

View full sizeCourtesy of NBC NewsNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks on NBC's "Meet the Press" in Washington on Sunday. Christie said Tuesday that he would veto a gay marriage bill if it comes before him for a signature.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday he’d veto a gay marriage bill if it reaches his desk, threatening to upend Democrats’ efforts to push through the Legislature a bill legalizing the same-sex unions.

Christie told a town hall audience in Bridgewater that an issue of such magnitude deserves to be voted on by residents, and he urged Republican lawmakers to support a constitutional amendment that would appear on a statewide ballot. The Democratic Senate president swiftly condemned that idea, saying civil rights issues should not be subject to a vote.

“This is a huge societal change ... it needs a lot of consideration,” the first-term Republican governor said during the event at a Jewish community center. “There are very passionate people on both sides, so let’s have at it. Let them make their opinions known and I’ll make mine known.”

“Whether or not to redefine hundreds of years of societal and religious traditions should not be decided by 121 people in the Statehouse,” Christie added.

Christie’s statement, his most explicit on the issue, came as Democrats in the Senate were holding a hearing on gay marriage legislation. While campaigning for office, he said he thought voters should decide on any such major change in law.

View full sizeMel Evans / APNew Jersey Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Thorofare, walks out of a Senate Judiciary Committee public hearing Tuesday on a bill to legalize gay marriage after Sen. Christopher Bateman, R-Somerville, N.J., announced that Gov. Chris Christie plans to veto the bill.

During the Senate hearing, Senate President Stephen Sweeney said gay couples are being denied basic civil rights under the state’s civil union law. Sweeney was the first to testify on a bill he’s sponsoring to allow gay couples to marry. A similar bill failed two years ago.

Sweeney, a South Jersey Democrat who didn’t vote last time, has had a change of heart and is now sponsoring the legislation. “Civil rights is not to be placed on the ballot,” Sweeney said upon hearing Christie’s comments. Sweeney said it’s time for New Jersey to join six other states and 10 countries that sanction gay marriage.

Earlier, 127 professors from 48 law schools around the country signed a letter saying New Jersey’s civil union law cannot be fixed. The professors, including New Jersey former Public Advocate Ron Chen, say the law granting gay couples the benefits of marriage without the title will never be equal to the right to marry. The letter was sent to Christie, a Catholic, and the Legislature.

Christie on Monday nominated an openly gay black man to the state Supreme Court. During a news conference that followed, he said he would look at the gay marriage bill if it gained momentum, though he was unlikely to alter his opposition.